Usain Bolt tells parents, ready to race on Sunday

The health of Usain Bolt has been a question as the showman enters
his final Olympics nursing a sore hamstring.

His parents paid him a brief visit in the athletes village and
insisted Friday he's ready to run and defend his gold medals.

Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt both inquired about their son's health in
their Thursday night visit with the sprinter. Bolt pulled out of his
national championships last month because of the hamstring injury, but
has insisted he's fine to compete in Brazil.

''He said 'Mom, if I wasn't ready, I wouldn't be here because I'm not
into the losing thing. I'm ready,'' said Jennifer Bolt. Bolt is trying
to win the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay - just like the last two Olympics -
to close his career with nine gold medals. The 100-meter final is Sunday
and Bolt races in his first heat the day before.

The Bolts spoke to a small group of reporters during a news
conference, giving anecdotes from Bolt's childhood and discussing his
rise into a global superstar.

Although he was born roughly 10 days past his due date - ''the only
time in his life he was slow,'' she said - he's been fast ever since.
She recognized he might be special just three weeks after his birth when
he nearly fell off a bed and she noticed him trying to push himself up.
''I thought 'What kind of a child is this? Three weeks old and he's
pushing!'' she said. He was off and running from there, just like both
of his parents. He once had to sprint home from school to collect his
forgotten lunch and by 10, he could beat his mother in a race. Two years
later, they knew for certain they had an athlete on their hands.